Video Interview: Fright Night Director Craig Gillespie

Sure, you might have seen the original Fright Night a thousand times and figured your expertise would make you perfect for remaking it for a modern audience. But Craig Gillespie, the guy who actually did get to direct the Fright Night remake, deliberately avoided watching the original Tom Holland movie until he was well into production, as an effort to focus on his own script and cast and not keep too much of an eye on the past. Bring out your torches and pitchforks all you want, but it's probably worth getting a look at the new Fright NIght first-- it's a funny, often genuinely scary take on the vampire genre that's much-needed in this post-Twilight world.

When I talked to Gillespie at San Diego Comic Con last month, he has just wrapped up a big panel in front of a lot of Fright Night fans who might have brought out those torches and pitchforks--but who were probably also happy to see the star of the original, Chris Sarandon, up there onstage. I talked to Gillespie about moving forward with his own vision of the movie, how he picked Colin Farrell to play the vampire Jerry, and how his blend of comedy and action in this movie will go forward into his next project, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. He also holds the distinction of being the first director I've interviewed on-camera kind enough to adjust my framing for me, as you'll see in the opening moments. Fright Night is in theaters today.